Background: I'm a pre-med student who was told that cats make ideal companions for med school, and that since I have a tendency to get lonely, it would be good to have a furry friend at home. I've always wanted a cat and have done a ton of research on them, so I decided to adopt one about a week ago. Something to note is that I'm currently housing the cat in my bedroom/bathroom only, but we are supposed to move into two story townhouse in a little over a month.
Problem: I'm having some major post-adoption anxiety/depression and it's getting worse not better. My cat is super well behaved, he barely sheds, he doesn't tear anything up (his previous owners declawed him so he really can't do that even if he wanted), and he doesn't go places he isn't supposed to. He is extremely affectionate and not overly playful, which is exactly what I wanted, but it's actually proving to be kind of an issue. He screams when he wants attention, which is all the time. He's been checked by a vet and apparently he's just needy, and I've been ignoring him during his nightly scream sessions hoping he'll stop, but he just keeps doing it. It's gotten to the point where even if he isn't screaming and he just wants to sit on my lap during the day, I get really anxious. Just looking down to see him standing next to me scares me and I have no idea why. I love the little dude and I've never been afraid of cats before. Petting him is super stressful for some reason, and my heart rate has been through the roof (resting heart rate is in the 100s, used to be in the 70s). He came over wanting to play a bit earlier today and I had a panic attack so badly I actually got sick. I've been told it's normal to be anxious with a newly adopted pet, but it really is getting significantly worse not better. I don't even really have the urge to pet or play with him when I see him, I just kind of want to cry or run away, and it's so confusing. I have very good control over my emotions usually, and am a very logical person, so this whole situation is very new to me. Should the depression/anxiety get worse before it gets better? Or is there something actually wrong here? Something to note is he does scream very loudly, and I do have phonophobia; so perhaps the fear is from me associating him with loud noises at this point? I want to try and push through this, because I do not want to have to give him back, but this really is impacting my ability to function at this point (I've got finals in a week too, so this is not helping at all). I've considered contacting my doctor for anxiety meds, but he has stated in the past that he doesn't want to prescribe them to me given some of my existing medical problems; so that's not may not even be an option health-wise.
TL;DR: Got my first cat a week ago and he's exactly what I wanted (or thought I wanted), but for some reason just having him around is making me anxious/depressed to the point of actually getting sick. It's getting worse not better. Any advice would be appreciated.
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/n6mi6w/postadoption_anxietydepression/
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